Randy joined May 15, 2011

Hello, everyone. I'm a Texan that is fascinated by anything Soviet and Stalker is my favorite series of games, bar none. With each new mod it becomes a new game.
When I'm depressed, I play Stalker.
When I'm bored, I play Stalker.
When I'm happy, I'm playing Stalker.
Thanks to kind and talented people like david.m.e. and the rest of the modders, I feel like I have a home here.
None of this would be possible without this glorious set of games.
Oh, the bio stuff? I'm a writer, three times divorced and happy being single. That's pretty much it.
Favorite games are Stalker, Fallout 3, Dragon Age 1&2, Mass Effect, (only played the first), Far Cry 1&3, (hated 2), Divinity: The Dragon Knight Saga, Lost Odyssey, Red Faction Guerrilla, (playing Armageddon now), Deus Ex, (original and new one), The Suffering, (best horror since Silent Hill), Silent Hill 1,2 and 3. I love RPGs, I've played games like Morrowind and Oblivion. Skyrim didn't impress me.

I read something, I forget where, that insinuated that "running through the streets of Pripyat, site of a terrible tragedy, shooting willy-nilly" pays a disservice to the lives lost there in the past.
I completely disagree. I feel that anyone that is a true Stalker fan knows and shows the utmost respect and sorrow at where we find ourselves. I haven't found anyone that plays this game as a COD-type of game, (not to disrespect COD), running around killing and whooping with glee. We know we are on sacred ground and it isn't somewhere we would necessarily choose to be, but we have a job to do.
My most anguished-over image/place is the Ferris Wheel at Pripyat. The carnival equipment was there for the upcoming May Day festivities and was set up but hadn't been used yet. The Chernobyl accident happened a couple of days before May Day. The government initially did nothing, hoping to keep it under wraps, (I assume), plus the Plant Manager didn't know how bad it actually was since all the instruments were fried.
As a result, three days passed before evacuations were begun. During that time the city decided to open up the rides to keep the children occupied. What no one realized until later was that radiation was being carried on the winds, meaning that any high place was getting the most rems.
Everyone that rode on that Ferris Wheel died. There was also a railroad bridge nearby that had a good view of the burning reactor and many people flocked there to see the "otherwordly, multi-colored" flames. Everyone on that bridge died and it is now called The Bridge Of Death.
I studied up on all this as a direct result of playing these games.
I have cried sometimes upon seeing pictures of Pripyat before the accident, (I have one posted, a parade)
I take all of this seriously and I don't know of a true Stalker that does not.
We honor their memory by keeping the spirit of Pripyat alive in our hearts and minds.
And in our games.

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